posted
I have had Lyme for about 12+ years. I was treated 10 years ago and recently relapsed.
I started taking Biaxin and Plaquenil about 10 days ago. I had some nausea and bloating prior to starting but since I began the antibiotics the gas/bloating/stomach pain is terrible.
I feel like I can't eat anything without pain and nausea. I have tried eliminating certain things in my diet (one at a time) and can't seem to determine if it is a food allergy, Lyme, or the antibiotics.
Any suggestions?
-------------------- Lisa D Posts: 103 | From MA | Registered: Jan 2009
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TerryK
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 8552
posted
Make sure you are taking a good quality probiotic several hours away from the abx.
I almost always have to eat with abx but I've never taken Biaxin or plaquenil and don't know the specifics of eating with those drugs and how it might affect their effectiveness.
Sometimes initial symptoms with abx will subside after awhile if it is related to a side effect of the drug.
You could be having a reaction due to die off.
Hopefully someone with specific experience with these drugs will have more ideas.
Terry
Posts: 6286 | From Oregon | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Thanks Terry! I am taking acidophilis about 4 hours in between taking my antibiotics. Right now I am taking the dose recommended on the packaging. Maybe I need more than the recommended dose?
-------------------- Lisa D Posts: 103 | From MA | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
Make sure you are eating a full meal before you take the abx....also don't take the plaquinil and the abx at the same time. Plaq. gives me a little bit of a tummy ache.
FYI: there is a serious stomach flu going around that makes you feel like you have a rock in your gut with acid reflux-like stomach pain and nausea. I had it for about 8 days and so did a few of my friends....
It made it hard to take my meds and I had to back off of the dosage of the abx and my Nsaids...which was a drag but you gotta do what you gotta do!
-------------------- The Lord is my strength and my song
CDC/Igenex- Positive IGG 31+/- 34+/- 41++ IGM 23-25+++ 31+ 34+/- 39+/- 41+ Posts: 50 | From San Diego | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted
Thanks for all of the recommendations. I am going to start to separate the Biaxin and Plaquenil and look into the Theralac. If it works then it will be well worth it! I'm not sure how long I can continue with this discomfort on top of everything.
I appreciate the input and support.
-------------------- Lisa D Posts: 103 | From MA | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
I was up all night ridden with nausea (no vomiting but gas, bloating, pain,etc) and have made a call into my LLMD but she isn't always fast to reply.
I am on a diet of foods low on the glycemic index but want to eat a bland diet for today.
Any suggestions?
-------------------- Lisa D Posts: 103 | From MA | Registered: Jan 2009
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LLMD could call u in some meds for nausea. Zofran is good one- expensicve and most ins. only allow u so many per month
phenergan is inexpensice- avail in pill form (can be tough on nausous gut), suppository form, or compound into cream if u have access to compounding phar (most do not file ins. you pay out of pocket and file ur own form..here goes about 5 bucks for syringe iwht 2 doses. cream form is great since not pill and not suppository
also, try the good old standard of very cold water on hands, and washrag to forehead and neck iwht cold water.
best wishes
-------------------- i am not a Dr. any info is only for education, suggestion or to think/research. please do not mis-intuprest as diagnostic or prescriptive, only trying to help. **
dx in 08:lyme, rmsf, bart, babs, and m.pneumonia. Posts: 422 | From TX | Registered: Oct 2008
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posted
Could be a Biaxin side effect, obviously (you mentioned this yourself). I would try to switch quickly. Zithromax can affect GI, but much less than Biaxin. My pharmacist told us that many docs no longer use Biaxin because of its GI effects.
I am not clear on how long you have been on abx, or how long you have had nausea, and also how long you tried the elimination diet.
In our family, a situation like yours was a combination of yeast and leaky gut, which then causes food allergies. But mainstream docs won't help you with that. Go to an alternative type nutritionist or allergist, perhaps.
Mainstream GI docs will put you on Prilosec etc. which can actually make the problem worse. Just my opinion...
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She wants me to stop the antibiotics for 5 days, increase the probiotics, and start to slowly re-introduce the antibiotics one at a time so that we can determine which is the problem.
I'm happy to have a bit of relief from this assuming it is in fact the Biaxin. I appreciate all of this information.
Thankfully my LLMD also uses alternative medicine and much of it is focused on diet. If this is leaky gut hopefully she can help. For now we'll start by focusing on the antibiotics.
-------------------- Lisa D Posts: 103 | From MA | Registered: Jan 2009
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I've been taking 1000mg of slippery elm bark and 1000 mg of ginger each in pill form about 20 minutes before each meal and its made a big difference on my stomach. I wouldn't say everything is working 100% but I had some really bad, persistent stomach pain that has been dulled down substantially by this combo. I also take probiotics and florastor which I swear by.
Posts: 48 | From Baltimore, md | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
Thanks Starch! What is the reason for the slippery elm? I'll have to do a bit of research. I nearly bought ginger pills last week but wasn't sure on the dosage.
I truly appreciate this feedback. Hopefully I can get my stomach under control again.
-------------------- Lisa D Posts: 103 | From MA | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
On the ginger pills. 1000mg per dose is about twice the "Serving size" on the package but I found that lower doses weren't doing enough.
Through research I found that Slippery Elm can be beneficial for stomach issues because it creates a coating of mucous on the stomach lining that insulates it from caustic irritants like unusually high amounts of stomach acid. I was concerned that it might prevent the absorption of my meds but my LLMD said that shouldn't be a problem.
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